AUGUST 2003 VOL. 13, NO. 4

Companies Aim to Weaken Byrd Amendment

Two US companies have filed briefs asking a federal court to declare unconstitutional the provision of US trade law that requires the government to distribute the proceeds of antidumping duties to the companies that supported the petition calling for the duties to be imposed.

The Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, better known as the "Byrd Amendment," is being challenged by a Louisiana crawfish company that is arguing that industries affected by dumping should be able to collect Byrd funds even if they did not agree to support the industry petitions that led to antidumping and countervailing duty orders.

These companies are recommending that the ITC drop the "support" requirement and identify affected producers based on the Commission's definition of the domestic industry it determined to be injured.
 

New Regulatory Guide for Small Businesses

Small business owners have a new tool to help cut through the complex and confusing federal regulatory process. The recently launched "Regulatory Alerts" web page of the Office of Advocacy at the Small Business Administration (SBA) now provides one-stop access to proposed regulations, the ability to submit comments on proposed rules, and links to other regulatory related sites.

The Regulatory Alerts page is located in the Office of the Advocacy at www.sba.gov/advo. It divides proposed regulations into easily understood subject areas such as environmental, safety, health, labor and tax.

From the new page, small business owners and other interested parties can send their comments directly to federal agencies through regulations.gov, the federal government's site for citizen participation in rulemaking.

House to Adjourn in Early October

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) has planned a torrid schedule that will allow the House to adjourn by early October. The fast track toward an early adjournment has been bolstered by agreements between the House, Senate and White House on appropriations levels for fiscal year 2004.

Delay's goal is to finish all 13 appropriations bills by the August recess and to finish the entire process of the spending bills by the October 3, adjournment date. He would also like to complete work on the $400 billion Medicare prescription drug bill and the energy bill by that date. If successful, there is no reason why the House would have to stay in session longer than early October.

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